WHALES ALOFT
THE NEW COMPANION piece to the hot air balloon creation Skywhale, for which Australian sculptor Patricia Piccinini was commissioned to celebrate Canberra’s centenary in 2013, is Skywhalepapa. Patricia’s provocative, hyperreal sculptures evoke a heady mix of fascination and revulsion. Her original grotesque, whale-like behemoth was unkindly dubbed the Hindenboob Disaster by some critics. But after floating through arts festivals in Brazil, Ireland and Japan, Skywhale rose above criticism to garner a loyal following. Now Skywhalepapa, commissioned by the National Gallery of Australia, has this year joined the family.They are scheduled to appear at 11 venues during the next two years, including: the Gold Coast’s Home of the Arts and Cairns Art Gallery, in Queensland; Maitland and Tamworth regional art galleries,
New South Wales; the Walkway Gallery in South Australia’s Bordertown;Alice Springs’ Araluen Art Centre, Northern Territory; Melbourne’s MPavilion and the Art Gallery of Ballarat,Victoria.
All venues and dates are COVID- and weather-dependent.“One of the things about the skywhales is that you need to be lucky to see them.The wind and weather must be right,” Patricia explains. “Nature must allow us to see them and we can’t control that.We are lucky if we get to see them, just as we are lucky if we get to see so many of the wonders of the natural world. It reminds us that not everything is just for us whenever we want it. And for that we should be grateful. I really love that.”